Coolmore shuttle stallion Wootton Bassett (GB) sired his first Australian juvenile winner when Pallaton (Aus) bolted up by 2 3/4 lengths in the 1000-metre Shinzo@Coolmore Plate at Randwick on Saturday (video).
Trained by Michael Freedman and ridden by Tommy Berry, the bay shifted off the fence at the 400-metre mark, split rivals inside the 300 and cruised past 3-1 crowd's pick Chergui (Aus) (Frosted) at the 100-metre pole to win going away. The colt now shares co-favourite honours for the G1 Golden Slipper with G3 Gimcrack Stakes winner Bel Merci (Aus) (Extreme Choice {Aus}).
“We've had a good opinion of him for a while and he's has been very professional right from the first day we got him in,” said Michael Freedman. “He has a great temperament, just the perfect 2-year-old type and I worked him with an older horse earlier this week and he more than held his own and I thought if he brings that to the races you will see the best of him.”
A homebred for Anthony Gow Gates, the colt joins his sire's 42 Northern Hemisphere 2024 juvenile winners. They were the first crop bred at Coolmore Stud in Ireland. Among them are 13 stakes winners, 10 group. There are four Group 1 winners sprinkled among them–Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf hero Henri Matisse (Ire), Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere victor Camille Pissarro (Ire), Criterium de Saint-Cloud scorer Tennessee Stud (Ire), and the Criterium International winner Twain (Ire).
Added Freedman of the Wootton Bassett progeny in his care, “We have a few at home and they have a terrific constitution and great temperament.
“I said to someone earlier in the week they remind me of back in the day with the Danehills, they had that relaxed and laid-back temperament and there is a bit of that talk around with a few of the other trainers saying the same thing.”
The son of Listed Talindert Stakes victress Anevay (Aus) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) is her fifth winner. Anevay, herself, is a half-sister to G2 Todman Stakes hero Krupt (Aus) (Flying Spur {Aus}), as well as the dam of the stakes winner Poifect (Aus) (Pierro {Aus}). Fit To Lead (Fit To Fight), a five-time stakes winner in the U.S., was also second in the G1 Hollywood Oaks.
Palladon is from the first Southern Hemisphere-bred crop of Wootton Bassett, who splits his time between Coolmore Stud in Ireland and Coolmore Australia at Jerry Plains, NSW.
That's a BIG win to Pallaton at Randwick! 🙌@MFreedmanRacing | @TommyBerry21 | @aus_turf_club | @CoolmoreAus pic.twitter.com/txZneOdLTi
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) December 21, 2024
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